Rose Petals
by SiriusFan13
Summary: Once upon a time, flowers held a very deep meaning. They were not given lightly, nor taken lightly. On the same note, colors were equally important... especially in roses... Please read and review!


**Disclaimer: **I don't own "Revolutionary Girl Utena." Even _I_ am not warped enough to come up with a plot as twisted as that!

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"**Rose Petals"**

Anthy stood in the greenhouse as she often did, watering the roses. Smiling in such a way that Utena could almost convince herself that this girl, this _Rose Bride_ actually enjoyed the task...

Utena hoped she did... Anthy needed something to enjoy. Everyone did...

Utena ignored her devastated entourage of besotted girls and flustered boys as she made her way to the well lit little building and opened the doors.

Anthy looked up, brushing a lavender lock of hair out of her eyes, just as Utena shut the door behind her. Quickly she stiffened and bowed, smiling pleasantly. "Good evening, Miss Utena," she said softly. "I will be finished shortly... I'm so sorry to keep you waiting!"

Utena sighed, absently tugging on a long curl of pink hair. "Anthy," she said in a stern voice. "I've told you a thousand times. You don't have to call me "Miss" anything. I'm just Utena... really. We're roommates! And you certainly don't have to hurry in here... I just thought I'd join you...

Anthy bowed again, smiling. "Of course, Miss Utena. I will only be a moment." She turned back to the flowers. Watering them carefully. Tenderly caressing their velvety petals. Checking their soil. Caring for them as she would never care for herself.

Utena shook her head in frustration and began walking around, looking at the roses and thinking back to the arena. The duels. It suddenly occurred to her that this very greenhouse could be where the roses had come from. Anthy _was_ the Rose Bride, after all... wasn't it possible that she cared about these flowers so much because it was another of her duties? Because she did it as the bride...?

Her eyes were momentarily drawn back to her quiet roommate. _Don't think like that_, she sternly scolded herself. _She has as much a right to be happy as anyone else. It's just a coincidence. That's all..._

Circling the greenhouse, she admired the different colored flowers, inadvertently flashing back to the various duels that each also represented...

"Yellow rose for friendship," she murmured.

_Jury, poor betrayed Jury slashing her blade through the air. Skilled, unbeatable Jury disarming Utena at last. And gloating over her win... that fate doesn't exist, nor does love, or friendship... not really... And then suddenly, inexplicably... losing..._

"Red rose for passion..."

_If Touga, the student body president was anything, it was passionate. But it was a dark passion. Twisted. And it was all Utena could do to tear her min from him._

"Blue rose for forgetfulness..."

_Miki... the only member of the student council who wanted Anthy for herself... _Utena's brow furrowed.She liked Miki, but was that entirely true? _That was the trick with Miki. So clever that he could fool everyone, even himself, into thinking that he'd forgotten the real story behind why he wanted Anthy. Because she embodied his twin sister. In his mind, she was the perfection that his sister insisted she couldn't ever be... that she'd never truly been anywhere but in his own mind..._

"And green for envy..."

She winced, thinking back to her first duel with the student council vice-president. _The abusive man who wanted the Rose Bride because he needed to have her. Because he couldn't stand the thought of anyone else having beaten him. Having had her. Because he fooled himself into thinking that his lust was love..._

She'd finished her circle of the greenhouse just as Anthy was cleaning up, smiling blankly as usual, like a porcelain doll. Just as eerie...

"I'm ready now, Miss Utena," the other girl said, breaking Utena's reverie. "I'm sorry to make you wait."

Utena forced a smile. "I told you it was no problem didn't I?" she asked, allowing a little exasperation to creep into her voice as she always did. "Anyway, I was just... admiring the roses. Thinking of how some people are so like them." At those words, she laughed a little at herself. "That didn't really make any sense, did it?" she asked.

But Anthy was smiling in that unnerving way of hers. "Of course it did, Miss Utena. Roses are very sensitive, aren't they? Just like people are..."

Utena nodded, relieved. "Right," she said.

Anthy continued. "For instance, you would be the pink rose, I think. Grace and admiration." She smiled again. "Don't you think so, Miss Utena?"

But Utena was blushing fiercely. "I—I don't know about that!" she stammered. Then changing the subject, asked quickly, "What rose would you be then?"

Anthy laughed. "I am the Rose Bride, Miss Utena. I am no single rose, but all and none. I am the petals and the thorns, of course. I am what I must be..." She set the watering can in the corner of the greenhouse, and finally walked to the door. "Are you coming, Miss Utena?"

"Of course..." And with those words, they left the greenhouse, a last lingering thought running through Utena's head as she followed.

_Thorns? For protection, I suppose..._

Ignoring the more sinister thoughts running through her mind, Utena firmly shut the door behind them, leaving the roses to their leafy shadows as she stepped into the glittering gold sunlight.

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_Author's Note: Sorry... I'm still officially on hiatus for a bit longer, but I felt like writing and therefore pulled out this quick one-shot. I am, however, feeling much better, but stress finally got ahold of me, and I'd rather not rush things. Probably another week or two and I'll be up and posting again. Sorry about all of this!_

_Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the fiction. If you aren't familiar with "_Revolutionary Girl Utena," _then I'm telling your right now, this is probably one of the most warped manga/ anime that I've ever read/ watched... Topped only by the Utena movie, which actually made my brain hurt... heh... Loads of fun, if you can take that sort of thing!_

_Thanks for reading. Please review!_


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